Legendary Displays of Affection
by Write-To-You
Summary: Someone thinks it's a good idea to create a pink mist that makes everyone fall in love. Zari is struggling.


**Author's Note: You know, it's odd. I was ****_very_**** tied to the first Legends of Tomorrow Team, but now that I'm in season 4 I look back and I'm like... wow, Zari and Nate and Nora are some of my favorite characters.**

**TBH I thought that Zari and Ray were endgame but DUDE I'm totally shipping Nate and Zari. So yes, this story has them in it :)**

Zari woke up on Wednesday morning at her usual time, and twenty minutes later she was slogging to the kitchen to get some breakfast. She was on her second bowl of cereal (time travel made her hungry) when Ray skipping into the room. "Happy Valentines' Day!" he greeted cheerily, beaming at her.

Zari frowned. She had wondered why the cereal was suddenly heart shaped. "Thanks...?"

"I hate Valentines' Day," Mick grumbled, shoving past Ray as he walked into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, closed it, opened the freezer, closed it, and then grumbled about there being no food and grabbed a beer.

"Oh!" Ray looked a little disappointed. He walked further into the kitchen, hands clasped in front of him. "I always enjoyed it. I mean, what better thing to celebrate than love?"

"People should be celebrating love every day," Zari argued through a mouthful of cereal. She was pretty sure Gideon had fabricated it with more sugar too, though she wasn't about to complain. "I mean, if every day was treated like Valentine's Day, think about how much better the world would be."

Mick tipped his beer in Zari's direction. "What do you say to that, Haircut?"

"Well I mean, of course loving everyone all the time would be amazing," Ray agreed quickly, sitting down. "But that's not how things work. So at least we've got one day, right?"

"Yep, one day that's more used to make single people feel lonely and depressed, and also fat because of all the chocolate they're eating, than it's used to advertise real love," Zari shot back, before getting to her feet and putting her bowl in the dishwasher. She didn't actually have anything against Valentines' Day, she just liked to make a point. And she was generally just difficult in the morning. Her team knew that by now.

Sara walked in wearing a much nicer-than-average red dress with some ruffles that weren't very Sara-like. "Morning everyone," she greeted, sounded dejected.

"Morning Sara!" Ray chirped. "Happy Valentines' Day!"

Sara groaned. "Thank you _so much_ for reminding me of the giant responsibility I have, Ray," she replied sarcastically, making for the food fabricator. "It's Ava and I's first Valentines' Day together, and if I mess it up she won't let any screw ups the Legends make slide for _weeks_."

Ray winced, realizing the magnitude of the problem. "Uh... well, never fear! You are looking at the _king_ of romance right here. I'll help you out! Let's not forget that I'm currently communicated with someone solely through love letters."

"A fact that you are honestly _way_ too proud of," Zari told him, patting his shoulder as she went by. "Now I'm going to go get dressed. And wear _black_."

"Black hearts are totally legitimate!" Ray said eagerly. "Did you ever realize that pink is actually the only normal heart that's not an emoji-"

Zari was down the hall before she could hear the end of his sentence.

**linebreaker**

It turned out that the only black Zari had that wasn't currently in the wash (and also matched) were jeans and a button down. She absolutely refused to undo the buttons in button downs when she was putting them on or taking them off, so that was why she was currently standing with her head stuck in the neck of the shirt, unable to pull it over the bridge of her nose.

As she struggled to get her arms through the arm holes so she could help herself out a little, Zari caught sight of a faint pink stream of smoke leaking under her door. Curious despite her initial caution, she crept towards her door and opened it.

Immediately, an explosion of pink gas surged into her face. Coughing and swiping at the air to try and clear it, Zari stumbled backwards. She was about to make a break down the corridor and through the smoke to see what the cause could be when it filtered away and the air was clear again.

Finally managing to get her shirt over her nose, and now grateful that it had been there to filter the air for her, Zari poked her head out into the hallway. There was no one in sight, just the last wisps of smoke slowly dissipating.

This must have been John Constantine's doing. This was just something he would pull on Valentines' Day. Or any day, for that matter.

Ready to give him a piece of her mind, Zari strode off down the corridor. She found John flipping through a Rebecca Silver book in the Parlour (spelled with a U because of Rip). He glanced up when she entered and his eyes met hers.

That's when then they sparkled. No- they didn't just light up because he was pleased to see her. They didn't even catch the light and glint a little. They actually _sparkled. Pink_.

"What the-?" Zari started, before John leaped out of his chair, threw his book aside, and strode down the steps towards her. In seconds she was trapped between his chest and the meeting table, his arms boxing her in on either side.

"Zari," he growled dramatically, gazing at her. "Sweetheart. Love. Pet. Princess-"

"What the _heck_ are you doing?!" Zari cried, leaned so far away from him that her back was always flat against the table top. "Dude, we were literally just trying to save your boyfriend!"

Constantine blinked, frowned, and then his eyes sparkled pink again. "I don't want anyone but you," he said, before leaning in.

Zari kneed him in the stomach, ducked under his arm, and sprinted for the hallway. As soon as she was far enough down she pressed her back against the wall to try and catch her breath.

This had to be something to do with the pink mist. There was no _possible_ way that Constantine was into her.

Though... there had been that one time...

_No_. No. The pink mist had somehow messed with his brain. What else could explain that sparkle she had seen in his eyes? Zari straightened up and turned back around. She had to find Sara and see if they could figure out what was going on.

**linebreaker**

When Zari found Sara, she was dancing around the library, skirt flung out in graceful lacy circles around her.

"Ummm... Sara?" Zari asked, trying not to laugh.

Usually the sound of someone's voice was more than enough to stop the captain from doing something she didn't want someone to see. But Sara kept on spinning. "Oh, Zari," she sighed, finally coming to a stop and taking both of Zari's hands. For a second, Zari thought that Sara was going to try to kiss her like Constantine had, but then she broke away and rested the back of her hand against her forehead. "Isn't being in love _great_?"

Zari gave her an odd look and judged the distance to the door. If she needed to make a break for it, she could. "Um... I couldn't really te-"

"It's _amazing_," Sara interrupted. "Ava and I are going out tonight and I have the most _beautiful_ necklace picked out for her. And then we'll go back to her apartment, and we'll make-"

"Okay, enough!" Zari shouted over the last few words that she would probably never unhear. "Uhhh, why don't you go get Gideon to fabricate some flowers for Ava?"

As Sara gushed over this idea, a thought occurred to Zari. Gideon was an AI. She couldn't have been effected by the mist, right?

With that thought in mind, Zari hurried out of the library and back to her room. It was safe in there, at least.

"Hey Gideon?" she asked when she slid her door shut.

"Yes, Miss Tomaz?" Gideon replied primly.

"Uhh..." Zari wasn't exactly sure how to put this. "You're not feeling any... romantic urges, right?"

"If you are referring to the way the rest of the crew is currently behaving then, no, I am not under the influence of the dopamine-stimulating drug that was floating around in the Waverider a few minutes ago."

"Dopamine-stimulating drug?" Zari echoed uncomprehendingly. "Dopamine, like, the feel-good-hormone dopamine?"

"The very same," Gideon agreed.

Zari's face tightened. "Ray," she growled murderously, before sliding her door back open and striding off down the hallway.

She didn't make it far. Mick was just coming out of bathroom. He paused when he saw her and his eyes sparkled pink. In seconds he had stepped forward and given her "personal space bubble" about two inches in diameter. "Bed. With me. Now," he growled.

"Ewwwwww..." Zari groaned, placing her hands on his shoulders and giving him a hefty push backwards. "Ew ew ew ew!"

She took off down the hall again and ran straight into Charlie. The shapeshifter caught her around the waist and gave her a flirtatious nod. "Hey, you're pretty cute," she said, eyes shining pink.

"And I'm also completely straight!" Zari cringed, twisting out of her grip.

Charlie shrugged. "Your loss."

Zari let out a long breath as Charlie swaggered off down the hallway. She was going to _kill_ Ray Palmer.

**linebreaker**

After searching three rooms and managing to avoid everyone else on the ship, there was still no sign of Ray. The only place she hadn't checked was the lab, which was most likely where he was, but also required her to go through the bridge which meant passing the parlour, and also Constantine.

Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, Zari set her jaw and started off towards the Bridge. She found John back at his book and tried to sneak across the room.

"Love!" John called. "You're back!"

"Just leaving!" Zari told him through gritted teeth, skirting around a table and heading for the safety of the hallway. A few moments later, she was in the lab.

Ray was sitting at one of the tables, an empty test tube in front of him, gazing dreamily at the wall. "Zari!" he said moonily when she came into the room. "You are so beautiful..."

"Yeah, I'm sure Nora Darhk would _love_ to hear you say that," Zari shot back, rolling her eyes.

Ray's eyes went wide. "Nora..." he murmured thoughtfully, before his eyes turned very pink indeed and he shot to his feet. "Nora! I should- should write her another letter and shrink myself down so I can hide in it and visit her! And we can sit in her cell and hold hands, and maybe- maybe even _kiss_-"

"Your innocence continues to astound me, Ray Palmer," Zari sighed, unable to stay mad at him for long. "But um... you stuck yourself into a letter to go visit her?"

"Long story, no time," Ray said rapidly, rummaging around for paper and an envelope. "Do you think that Mona could get me in?"

"Mona?" Zari repeated in confusion. "Wait, wait, Ray, before you leave- did you make a dopamine-stimulating drug and release it unto the ship recently?"

Ray sat back down, looking guilty. "Um, well... alright, I admit it!"

"That was easy," Zari muttered.

"I just..." he let out a long sigh and looked sadly at the floor. "I wanted everyone on the ship to be as excited for Valentines' Day as I am! And so I released a love-potion style gas onto the ship so that you would all get in the mood, so to speak."

"Do you realize," Zari said dangerously. "That because of you, _every single person on this ship besides Sara has hit on me_?"

"Well you're beautiful..." Ray replied dreamily, before shaking himself. "Nora!"

Zari hit her forehead with the heel of her hand. "Go see Nora, Ray," she told him. "I'd just maybe... come down from your high a little."

"Oh, oh, yeah, right," Ray nodded his agreement and hurried out of the room. "Water will help!"

Zari let out a breath and leaned against the doorframe, rubbing her forehead. She supposed that she would just hide and hope that the effects wore off soon. She was about to make a break for it and get back to her room when none other than Nate Harewood walked into the room. "Oh! Zari!" he exclaimed, sounding surprised. "Uh, I just saw Ray running through the hallways saying something about going to see Nora... what's going on?"

Zari let out another sigh. "Uhh... it's kind of a long story?"

"Oh." Nate tucked his hands into his pockets awkwardly. "So, hey... I was wondering. Would you- I mean, do you... would you be interested in going on a date with me, sometime?"

For a second, Zari gaped at him. Then her shoulders fell with disappointment. It was the mist. It had to be the mist. There was no possible way that Nate was asking _her_ on a date.

"Guess the pink mist got you, too, huh?" she asked, lips pulling into a tight smile.

"Huh?" Nate gave her an odd look. "Is this apart of that 'long story' you mentioned?"

A niggling of doubt chewed at Zari's stomach, releasing a tiny bit of hope. "Nate... odd question, but... when did you arrive on the ship?"

"Like, literally two seconds before I walked in here," Nate replied, shrugging. "Are you, um, going to answer my question anytime soon? I'm kind of freaking out here, no matter how calm and collected I may seem."

A giant smile broke over Zari's face. "Oh, _yes_!" she cheered, running forward and hugging him spontaneously. "So this is actually _you_ asking me!"

"Ummm..." Nate looked like he was slightly regretting ever showing up the ship. "Who else would it be...?"

"Oh, oh, sorry," Zari pulled back, blushing. "So, long story short, Ray made this dopamine-stimulating drug and sent it out into the air vents to try and get everyone in the Valentine's Day mood, but it just made it so that everyone I passed was _ridiculously_ attracted to me- except Sara, and Ray after I reminded him of Nora's existence. So I thought..."

"That I had been taken over by the drug," Nate finished, finally understanding. "No... but I still want to know. Do you-"

"Yes," Zari interrupted, grinning. "I would love to go on a date with you, Nate."

Nate smiled widely. "That's awesome," he breathed. "But, um, Zari?"

"Yeah?"

"Valentine's Day is tomorrow."

Zari's happy expression suddenly turned murderous. "Ray... I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

With that, she turned and ran out of the room.

**Author's Note: Hey, I'm so happy. I couldn't find Zari and Nate's ship name ****_anywhere_****, but then I watched the LoT episode where Mona actually gives it to Zari! Natari :) Not the best one, but I like it. **


End file.
